


Kuleana (my version)

by 11chance11



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Emotional, Established Relationship, Humor, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 04:26:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5729461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11chance11/pseuds/11chance11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my first ever fanfic.   I am huge McDanno fan and was really looking forward to last week's episode.  I  loved Kamekona's story. It was really nice and I loved seeing the flashbacks with him and Chin.  But, I have to admit to being disappointed with the Steve and Danny storyline.  Wasn't kidding myself into thinking that the show would give us a cannon romance finally or a lot of anything, but the promo sure made it sound like it would be better than it was, really.   I'm frustrated with the lack of more story for them together especially this season.  So, I wrote this version.   It's my first story and I hope it works.   I didn't beta it but proofed it.  I have enjoyed reading so, so many amazing stories in this fandom and finally decided to try one of my own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kuleana (my version)

Night...

Steve and Danny's hotel room

 

Steve's cell phone rang from its place on the night table and was ignored twice before its owner pried open his eyes sleepily and and turned his dark haired head in its direction.

Flat on his back, his one arm curled protectively around the other occupant, he reached over and grabbed the phone and put it on the edge of the bed. Reaching blindly for a nearby pillow, he grasped it and placed it over the phone in a futile attempt to silence it.

When it rang a third time, he scowled in resignation and threw the pillow off the bed and reached out to answer his phone.

He made out the caller id as Chin Ho Kelly through barely opened eyes and clicked on the 'answer' button and pulled the phone to his ear.

"Do you know what time it is?" he grumbled as his way of greeting.

"Yeah, sorry, brah." Steve's State Task Force team member answered sheepishly. "I know it's late."

"It's REALLY late, Chin. I have another one of those group sessions in the morning where we get all touchy feely and talk about feelings." he finished muttering more to himself than to Chin.

"How's that going, by the way?" 

"Oh, great." Steve added with what Chin found to be more restrained on the level of sarcasm than he expected from the man.

It was late though and Steve couldn't be expected to be on his A game right now, he supposed.

"Well, it was your idea to cram a bunch of hours for your mandatory couples therapy sessions into a weekend in Maui. I'm sure Governor Denning appreciates your enthusiasm." he teased him.

"I was hoping to actually enjoy the weekend with Danny, not sit in class. And this wasn't even the right class."

"What?"

"Never mind, too tired to into the explanation." 

"And how is THAT going, by the way. You know, the Danny part. Kono might want to know." Chin asked curiously and Steve could see his smirk from all the way in Oahu.

A slow lazy smile finally found its way to Steve's incredibly handsome face and his arm tightened around his bed partner and he stretched out one of his long legs lazily. 

"Why are you calling, buddy?" Steve asked instead of answering him. He could feel a warm flush spreading across his face. Steve never thought of himself as shy, it wasn't his style. He hadn't gotten his nickname, Smooth Dog for nothing. But, this....this between him and....it was...personal."

Chin knew the sound of a wall going up when he heard it. His fellow officers still didn't really make a habit of discussing their private lives to anyone even if everyone could tell just by looking at them at any given moment.

"That well?" Chin chuckled, the most emotion Steve was going get out of him. Chin was the original when it came to quiet demeanor. 

"I just wanted to let you and Danny know the updates on the case we're working on with Kamekona."

"Right. How's he doing? Is he still okay with all of this?" From what Chin, Lou, and Kono had told Danny and him about their current case, Kamekona was in deep undercover with them to help catch the man they knew to be responsible for the murder of a man Kamekona once knew from before his days in Halawa prison. He had apparently approached Kamekona the other night about getting back into their old business and was turned down now that Kamikona was on the straight and narrow having kept his nose clean for years as he built up his budding businesses. Chin hadn't been comfortable putting him in this position and Steve knew that it must be digging up a lot of old, painful memories.

As Chin started to fill Steve in on the latest developments, Steve took careful mental notes and offered his thoughts and opinions and let Chin brainstorm with him. A habit of his days with Naval Intelligence and the SEAL teams when he had been on active duty in the service, Steve carefully and easily went back and forth with Lt. Kelly even as tired as he was now.

It was late, late at night and he and Danny's last two days here at the resort had been a disaster in so many ways, he didn't even know where to begin. It was his own fault, he could admit it to himself. He didn't like having Danny tell him he told him so, but it's not like Danny didn't have good reason.

As if on que, Danny wiggled against him, their warm bodies staying connected together through the process of him trying to get comfortable. 

As usual, Steve's body reacted instantly. He was exhausted, sleepy, on the phone with someone and he still got turned on whenever it came to Danny and Danny and him.

How do you do that, he wondered silently.

"Schmuck...." Danny said in a groan and then grew silent again. 

Still, he brushed his lips against Steve's bare chest and Steve's skin quivered and a sharp intake of breath escaped him.

Geez, Danny, he thought. I need some sleep and so do you and you're injured; stop turning me on, buddy! Clearly, his body was in danger of having other ideas!

Bidding Chin good night, he clicked off his cell phone and put it down. Taking that hand, he wrapped it around Danny's other side and held him closer. He was careful not to jar the pillow cradling Danny's one injured ankle and tried once again not to wince at the memory of how it got there.

Absently, he lowered his chin to kiss the top of Danny's head even as his eyes closed and sleep claimed him again as he felt his heart beat it's familiar way. 

The way it always did for Danny. 

"Bastard..." Danny mumbled but there was no mistaking that fond tone.

A few hours ago, it hadn't been in fondness and Steve wouldn't have been in any hurry to bet that he and Danny would have ended up in the same bed together ever again after their first two days here....

 

Early yesterday morning...

Hawaiian Airline Flight  
Row 3  
Seats A and C

 

"So, I have our whole weekend planned!" Steve said excitedly as he eagerly glanced through the brochure in front of him. "Danny, I have to give myself some credit! I did good, man! You are going to love me after this trip!"

From his place next the window, Danny was fumbling around with his issued headset and cursing under his breath.

"Mine's broken. I got a broken headset here, Steve. I'm not going to be able to watch the movie." he stated in disappointment.

"Did you see the pictures of their pools, buddy?!" Steve asked him, his wickedly handsome grin covering his face.

"No, I don't want to look at the pictures right now. I want my headset to work, thank you." Danny went on as he wiggled the cords on the item again. 

"You haven't even looked at the brochure." McGarrett pouted. He really wished his boyfriend would show some more enthusiasm for the trip. Steve had worked very hard putting the next three days together for them including scheduling in a lot of snuggle time with Danny. He was starting to get deflated by Detective Williams' lack of enthusiasm.

"What are you doing?" He asked him curiously as he noticed the headset in his hands for the first time.

"I want to watch the movie." Danny pointed to the screen on the back of the seat in front of him.

"Danny, it's a forty-five minute flight. Who cares? We'll be there before the movie ends. Just a read a magazine or do a crossword or something." 

"I don't want to read a magazine, I don't want to do a crossword, I want to watch the movie." Danny spoke over him. 

"What's the big-"

"Because I want to, that's why. It's my trip, too. You don't always get to decide and this headset lets me tune you out which comes in very handy, okay. Like right about now." 

"Oh, that's very nice. That's very nice to say to your friend. Thank you very much!" Steve scowled, his lips thinning.

He leaned over and glanced at the screen and scoffed, "THAT's the movie you're watching?! Seriously?!"

"I haven't seen Pitch Perfect 2 yet." 

"Have you even seen the first one? Was there a first one?" 

"You know what, shut up, okay? Go back to looking at your...pools." Danny grumbled. 

"I'm just saying..." Steve began as he folded up their brochure.

"Look, you're the one who insisted we go on this weekend. Can't I at least get to do something of what I want, too? I'm sure the rest of this trip is going to be crammed with all the stuff that YOU want to do and I'm just going to get dragged along."

"Oh, like spending a nice relaxing weekend with me at this beautiful resort we're going to is such a hardship!" McGarrett argued. "Sorry that I'm making you suffer so much!"

Turning his head briefly, Steve noticed they had already attracted the attention of several other passengers who were looking at them curiously and he looked away self consciously. 

He should be used to it by now. The two of them attracted these kinds of stares and even comments wherever they went ever since they'd met and Steve had taken Danny to be on his Major Crimes Task Force for the Governor of Hawaii.

In the beginning, all the opinions on how long they'd been a couple were just jokes because of all the bickering they did with each other. And then, one day....one day, it hadn't been a joke anymore...not just a joke.

Steve turned back to Danny who went on waving his hands as he spoke.

"I don't know how you expect us to do all this stuff you planned out anyway. We're here to attend a workshop to improve our work relationship. This is about work. We're going to be booked up with that the whole time we're here." Danny predicted.

"Not all of it." 

"It's what you told the Governor." Danny reminded him.

"I didn't hear you try to stop me. Besides, I have several ideas for that part." Steve added with confidence.

It was true. Danny hadn't exactly objected to idea of getting away for a few days and spending time with Steve. 

Danny eyed him suspiciously anyway. "Blowing things up is bound to get us the unwanted attention of Maui law enforcement, Steven. It's not going to be a fun weekend spending it behind bars because our full immunity and means won't work for that. Chin, Kono, and Lou won't be able to get here in any hurry to bail us out. It's going be hard trying to use one of those fancy pools you're oogling in that brochure from inside a jail cell, babe."

"Do you think they'll let us share a cell? How does that work anyway? Might make it easier if we want to...you know." Steve said suggestively and reached over and ran a finger down the length of Danny's arm and smirked at him.

Danny's heart instantly did that flip flop thing at the contact and he squirmed in his seat and reached up his arm to briefly interlock his fingers with Steve's own.

"Big goof..." he mumbled and seriously started to wonder if explosives were going to be involved in their weekend away together judging by the smug look on Steve's good looking face. 

And not, he added silently, the kind that usually had them both sweaty and naked together in a tangled and exhausted heap....

 

Later that morning...  
Resort Hotel  
Poolside near the outdoor lounge

 

"What did I tell you, this place has everything!" 

If it was actually possible to call it that, Danny could have sworn that Steve actually squealed right now. He was looking around this place like a teenager looks at his first sports car!

"We've got to try out the golf course! I can't wait to show you how, Danny!" his hand was firmly grasped with the other man's as they walked.

They didn't have to be as discreet here as they were back in Honolulu about such open displays of affection. Both of them had decided very early on that they weren't comfortable with showing any kind of intimacy in public. But, here, Steve seemed very fine with taking Danny's hand in his own.

They knew they were catching people off guard. Both of them rugged looking like macho, macho men who happened to be into each other.

"That's for tomorrow. Today, I have booked us an appointment at the spa later this afternoon!"

"I didn't figure you for the spa type, buddy." Danny put in as he grinned up at him.

"I'm not." 

This didn't even make any sense to Danny. Steve's goofy grin spoke of someone who lived for places like this and that wasn't the Steve McGarrett who Danny knew, really.

"I see. And how about the workshop? We're supposed to go and check in now." Williams reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, right." he answered as if he had suddenly remembered it. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go check in, show our faces, hang around for a bit, and then slip out the back saying we're tired from our flight. They'll never even notice."

"That's your big plan?!" Danny wondered out loud incredulously. "They're never going to let us go, Steve. This is mandated by Governor Denning. They have to sign off on our papers."

"And they will." Steve said easily. "Just relax. It'll be fine. They're not going to miss us, you know what I mean."

"Why do I keep remembering that time you said the same thing about that Christmas tree you made me help you steal from that protected forest preserve back in Oahu? Eleven hundred dollar fine, McGarrett! And Pua made me give back the tree!"

"The next day!" Steve quickly added as if that had made everything they'd done alright. 

Danny shook his head. At least this didn't sound like they were going to have to repel through a window or anything because Danny was pretty sure that Super SEAL came all set to do just that if necessary, rope, climbing boots, and all.

"Just think about how great this day is going to be and that nice dinner I have planned for us later tonight." Steve instructed him blue eyes twinkling.

"Dinner tonight?" 

"I was thinking on the terrace outside our room. Maybe we can go for a walk on the beach afterwards." he suggested, thinking about how romantic it was going to be, just the two of them. 

"You're just doing this so I'll put out." Danny said lightly.

Steve smirked at him and it was that look that had first caught his eye and made his gut clinch hard inside him during their first days together after they'd met.

"You're unbelievable!" Steve mumbled and blushed at the look Danny was giving him.

"So you usually tell me...after, babe." Danny shrugged. "When you can talk again!"

"Shut up." Steve looked away shyly, but gave Danny's hand a squeeze.

Oh, Steve had plans for the two of them alright!

Williams didn't have any objections to any of it. The truth was that he was pretty much a willing accomplice since this was something he'd wanted to with Steve for awhile now. That was the trouble. He wanted all this stuff with Steve and how the hell was he supposed to be the voice of sanity and maturity when Steve knew just how to push his buttons? 

God, this wasn't fair. And Steve had always been too much to resist.`

 

Check In Desk...

 

Danny grinned back at the woman behind the desk patiently after he and Steve had scribbled their names on the papers she held out for them in front of her and then let Steve introduce them, charm and a grin dripping from his every word.

"Well, welcome, gentlemen. We're so happy you're here and that you want to participate in this therapy session for your relationship success!" she answered brightly. "My name is Lorraine and I will be your group leader!"

She had beautiful, coppery colored hair to with her smile and a welcoming tone.

"Well, we're excited and looking forward to it, Lorraine!" Steve said reaching out to shake her hand.

"We sure are...." Danny continued to watch Steve as he worked this woman behind the desk. She seemed to be buying their whole act as she watched them watch each other and then, her.

When Steve brightened up his smile almost flirtatiously a bit in the next second, Danny didn't miss the crimson blush that spread like wildfire through Lorraine's smiling face.

He shook his head and as he watched his partner. Did ANYONE actually stand a chance against this EVER?! Danny was actually a little...jealous he could admit. Usually, he didn't have to be because since they'd gotten together, Steve had made it VERY clear that Danny was the only one. He didn't really want anyone else, didn't want anything else but what they had together.

(Flashback)

..."I just want it be us, okay?" he asked him in almost bashful tone as slammed his locker shut after stuffing his bag of dirty clothes inside it to take home later.

"Okay, Commander." Danny nodded, his grin huge, closing his own locker door...

(end of flashback)

So, watching him now flirt his way out of having to sit through his sessions was....sort of a shock to his system. Steve was a charmer and he hadn't lost his skills even if he didn't use them anymore. It has just caught him by surprise in this moment, that's all.

Williams knew he had a catch on his hands. He knew Steve knew how to flirt. Since they'd met, Steve had been flirting with him.

And you flirted right back, his head reminded him. Just like this woman is doing right now turning into a bowl of mush right in front of them.

While McGarrett continued to chat her up, Danny reached over and took the paper itinerary she happily slid across the table to them and began to scan the contents out loud.

"Introduction of couples, learning to communicate effectively, fair fighting...." 

"Oh, you'll love that one in particular. So many of our couples just don't realize the importance of hashing out differences without...."

Danny guffawed out loud helplessly as she spoke, effectively cutting her off and looked up to find both Steve and Lorraine glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said quickly raising up his hand. "But, let me assure you, Lorraine, he knows how to fight and argue in every way possible! We're not going to be needing any demos there, trust me!" Danny hooked a thumb in Steve's direction.

"Not that it ever does me any good because my wonderful partner ALWAYS has an opinion on EVERYTHING and has absolutely NO problem sharing that knowledge even when I don't want to hear it." Steve smiled tightly at him.

"See! See!" Danny said in triumph. "What did I tell you?!"

"Like it's some big secret that you're opinionated, Danno!"

" It's DANNY!" he insisted to Lorraine.

Steve rolled his eyes. 

Danny rolled his eyes.

"Right. Why don't you start by telling her why I have to offer so many of my opinions on the death wish you have in doing your job every day? Or how about how you were born without a patience gene and that leads you to do stupid things like hang suspects off of roofs of tall buildings and dump them into shark cages to get answers from them!" 

"Danny, she doesn't need to know..." Steve began as Danny continued on, ignoring him.

"Of course she needs to know. That's why we're here..." Danny argued back, but Lorraine effectively slid her hands between them to cut them off and they both turned to her.

"Oh, you both got here just in time, I think!" She shook her head and then seemed to think for a few seconds as they waited for her to continue all the while giving each other glaring looks.

"Yes, I think we can do something." she decided. " I feel good vibes coming from you despite this little hiccup. We'll get started right away."

"He was the hiccup who started it, not me." Steve insisted firmly.

Danny looked at her in confusion and went back to scanning his itinerary.

"Successful sexual intimacy in and out of the bedroom." Danny swallowed when he finished speaking.

"Uh..." he sputtered, his eyes boring into the little booklet he held in his hands.

"WHAT?!" the two men spoke up at once!

Steve's dark head swung around to stare at the huge display stand behind them and that's when it hit him like a ton of brinks falling down on him!

Against the backdrop of a mushy, in love couple who were grinning ear to ear while the woman rode piggyback on the man as he held onto her, the bold, darkened letters of COUPLES THERAPY screamed out to anyone who looked in its direction.

You couldn't miss it! 

"Oh, God!" Steve said looking back at the other people, a deep crimson blush starting to coat his face, his heart rate increasing rapidly. 

"This is a couples therapy program, Steven." Danny hoped his voice didn't sound as embarrassed as he felt right now. He shook his head as his partner.

"I know that, Danny. I can read." 

"Apparently not on the brochure." 

Lorraine continued to stare at them while they started arguing back and forth as if she wasn't even there.

"You booked us for a couple's therapy weekend. As in COUPLES!" Danny punctuated the last word.

"Yup." Steve nodded and Danny hated the way he was so calm right now as if they did this kind of stuff all time and he, Danny, DEFINITELY did not do this kind of thing all the time, thank you very much!

"Did you see this itinerary?! Sex. It says sex." Danny's hands were flailing all over the place now.

"Actually, I can't see anything right now because your hands won't stay still." Steve pointed out helpfully.

"You don't have a problem with that when we're having sex." Danny snapped back at him. 

"I thought you said you didn't want anybody to know!"

"We're supposed to talk about sex?! I'm not going to talk about our sex life in front of a bunch of strangers! What does that have to do with working together?!"

"Danny, you just did!" Steve squeaked, clearing getting panicked now and making a sweep of his arm in Lorraine's general direction.

"WHAT?! What?!" Danny countered back, shoving the paper at Steve's chest. "Do you really want me to tell them that you like it when I put my..."

"NO!" Steve answered him in a rush!

"Gentlemen!" Lorraine shrieked at them and they both stopped talking to glare at each other before looking back at her.

"There's been some mistake." Steve began as he tried for a much more calmer voice.

"And he made it!" Danny hooked his thumb at him again. 

Steve rolled his stormy blue eyes.

"What mistake?" Lorraine asked them patiently, but Danny could see her smile was starting to slip in the face of Steve and Danny's actions.

"We came here for a work relationship workshop as in for our jobs." Steve started.

"We work for the State Police Task Force for Governor Denning." Danny continued helpfully. "We were given a mandatory directive for continued partners counseling to improve the quality of our working together." 

"I see." Lorraine nodded as she continued to watch them.

"We don't think we need it." Danny added.

"He's right. We're fine. We're good." Steve nodded his head. 

"But, it's for your jobs." 

"Yeah." 

"Yes."

Lorraine tapped a brochure she was holding against her fingers and Danny and Steve looked nervously at her.

"But, you gentlemen are a couple in a committed relationship. I saw you as you came in here to check in with us." 

"Yes." They both said at the same time.

"Danny and I are together." God, he hoped that was still the case when this whole thing was done.

"And you work together."

"We're partners. Steve is Task Force Commander at 5-0." Danny put in easily flashing him a very brief grin.

"Well, it was an honest mistake and in light of everything I just witnessed," she said looking at them, I can see how there are a lot of similarities between our couples and people who work together in close environments."

"Yes. Yes, we do." Danny eagerly nodded his head.

She clasped her hands together, paper still in her fingers. "Okay, gentlemen, I'll tell you what we'll do. You can still participate in our weekend- you two really need it, I can tell!" she added with more force causing Steve and Danny to stare at her. 

"I'll sign off on the governor's paperwork for your participation and cooperation."

"Excellent!" Steve grinned in relief, his mind already wandering back to the pool and lounge that he'd seen moments ago on their way over here. And then, he really, really wanted to try out that huge glass shower with Danny in their room. Maybe they should do the shower first...

"I'll sign it after our weekend has concluded and you've taken part in all the activities." she interrupted his happy thoughts.

"What?!" The men said in unison again.

"Oh, you came to us just in time and I know, I just know we can fix all of this for you!" She said with emotion. 

"We don't need fixing." Danny swallowed.

"We're work fine. We're not broken or anything." McGarrett added as well.

"Yes, you will be well on your way to fine after our weekend." She promised them and reached down and searched through the many name tags until she came up on two with their names on it.

"Ah, do you have a pen I can use for a second?" Danny asked as he frowned at his name tag while reading it.

"Absolutely." Lorraine handed it to him. "Welcome, gentlemen to our little program." 

"Thank you." both of them mumbled as they eyed each other and Danny shot Steve a 'I'll get you for this later' look.

Steve shrugged helplessly.

"I'll need your cell phones now, please." she smiled and extended her hands to take them from them.

"What?" Danny was thinking that word was getting used a lot today.

"We don't allow cell phones in sessions. We find its disruptive." she explained to them.

"Uh..." Steve began as he palmed his phone as if saying goodbye to his best friend for who knew how long. He was going to need it to keep tabs on the all plans he had made for the two of them; not to mention that he didn't like giving up the control of having his phone with him. How was he supposed to text Danny with stuff and get his sexy texts back? He had to keep contact with Chin and the others at 5-0 on the current case with Kamekona.

He wanted to keep his phone, damn it! He pouted like a little boy.

"Ummm... our phones?" Danny said slowly. "I didn't know about this one." 

"It's in the brochure. Didn't you see it?"

"No." Danny said calmly, glaring at Steve again. "He must have missed it on the way to the pictures of the pool."

"We can work with this, right, Danny?" Steve said quickly as reached for the other man's cell phone and handed them over to Lorraine to place into a nearby basket on the table.

Steve didn't care and Danny knew his SEAL mind was already forming a covert op to snatch them both back up at the earliest possible opportunity....

 

Later...

 

"I come from the loving space...of my heart." The group and Lorraine held hands in a circle and chanted together.

Off key and with various degrees of awkwardness, they completed the oral affirmations together under Lorraine's watchful eye.

"This is the dopiest thing you've ever gotten us into, buddy." Danny scolded his partner under his breath. "And that's saying something!"

Geez, this was embarrassing! He was actually sitting here about to spill his guts and chanting and holding hands with bunch of strangers who were going to get to poke around in his personal life like some lab experiment while he did the same thing to them.

How the hell was this his life?!

Steve scanned the room, his long legs sitting casually in his loose fitting blue shorts, button down shirt and flip flops as held onto Danny's palm with one hand and another person's with his other one.

He was the picture of cooperation and ease fully intent on getting the most out of their weekend sessions.

Danny knew differently.

He knew the man he knew as Smooth Dog was running reconnaissance of their immediate area trying to figure out the best escape route at the first chance.

The Navy had trained him well.

Danny shook his head and leaned over and whispered, "Pay attention. We're about to introduce ourselves to the group."

"This is great for us, right?" Steve grinned like a schoolboy and Danny's heart flipped over in his chest when he saw it.

He was so whipped!

Trying for his best scowl, he whispered back, "I hate you."

The Commander winked at him telling him he didn't believe him for a second. It was the smallest wink. Most people wouldn't have even seen it. Danny knew it like the back of his hand.

Danny cleared his throat to talk when Lorraine looked at him and ignored the heat that Steve had made creep up his face. 

Before he could get a word out, the husband of the couple next to them wondered, "I don't understand why you're here. This is for couples with relationship issues. I thought you two were work partners."

Danny cleared his throat again. "Well, yes, yes, we are, but Steve and I" he gestured to the tall, well built man next to him earning a grin to the group from him. 

"We...are a couple. We've been seeing each other for awhile." he stammered, feeling the color creep around his face again.

"Just...seeing each other?" the woman on the other side of him asked up suddenly. " Aren't you committed together?"

"What?" Danny looked at her. There was that word again. Maybe there was a speech seminar around here where they could learn different ones.

"Well, are you just in it for the sex and good times or are you really...TOGETHER?" she clarified. "You can't fix your problems if you aren't committed."

"We don't have any problems!" Danny stammered anxiously. "Why is everyone so obsessed with the sex we're having?"

"She's right, Danny." Steve jumped in now. He turned his dark head around to face the crowd. 

"What are you talking about, Steve?!" Williams turned on him.

"Danny and I are completely committed to each other and making our relationship a success at work and at our home." he said with a grin as he grasped Danny's hand in his own.

A few sighs escaped from Lorraine and a few of the women in the group as Steve smiled back at him.

"No sex, huh?" the first man nodded understandingly and his wife poked him in the ribs.

"We have sex! We have great sex! Fantastic blow your mind sex, okay?!" he let him know.

Steve bit his lip and rubbed a hand over his face. 

Gah, it was working! He was actually working this room and they would have been able to be out of here in a minute! He could feel the jet spray of that shower even now with Danny in his arms and now look! 

They were going to have to stay because Danny was actually taking this session thing seriously! He should have prepped him beforehand and scripted exactly what he should have done!

"Ah, Danny..." Steve began hopefully.

"No!" Danny held up his hand. "If you must know....Bob..."he said scanning the man's name tag. "We are just here to further our work partnership, but there are a lot of similar topics that can benefit us from these sessions, too."

Steve tried to tug on Danny's hand, but he was too far gone to reach at the moment and he looked on helplessly.

"Danny is right, everyone!" Lorraine spoke up brightly. "I have agreed to sign off on their weekend when we've finished. I'm so happy you both have seen the positives of this time together, Danny and Steve. I have to say that after listening to you, I feel that you are reaching a small crisis here and we can help you both!" She finished seriously.

"Now, wait a minute, I never said crisis!" Danny insisted. "I was thinking more along the lines of a few pointers, tips, you know. You know, stuff like that."

I was thinking more along the lines of trying out the shower in our room and then maybe that bed....Steve thought helplessly.

"We really don't need that much." Danny told her.

"You've done nothing but argue and put each other down since you got here." Lorraine pointed out, eyes narrowing. "I can't imagine you get much work done that way."

Clearly the woman hadn't seen the moment when Danny had grabbed Steve's ass as they'd entered the room. That was something else they'd done since they got here. 

"Oh, we get a lot of work done. Trust me. This guy and I....we work well together." he said. He decided it would be best to leave out the parts like how many times Danny yelled at him about things like proper police procedure, harassing suspects because Steve had no patience to deal with them, the mounting amount of property damage when they went downrange- a lot of which was caused by the pile of weapons and equipment that Steve kept stockpiled in the trunk of Danny's Camero that Steve always insisted on driving. Hey, maybe they should have a session on that topic, Danny decided. Don't even get him started on all the heart attacks that were threatening to take over Danny every time Steve went off recklessly after a suspect and almost got himself killed!

"I say we're good." Steve confirmed with an easy grin and Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well, we'll see." Lorraine answered

Steve was more annoyed with each passing minute. This woman was relentless and she was making it very clear that if McGarrett and Williams wanted her signature on the papers telling the Governor of the state of Hawaii that the two of them had participated fully and eagerly this weekend, they were going to have to earn it.

He had to find a way to get to those phones and change their spa appointment for later in the day. And come hell or high water, they were going to make that appointment today!

"I think it's time for another round of affirmations before we begin to explore how to place trust in our partners, everyone." Lorraine chirped as she looked around at her group of couples.

Sighing, Danny and Steve reached for each other's hands again. If nothing else, Danny was getting a lot of chances to hold hands with his boyfriend.

He liked holding Steve's hand far more than he ever thought he would. It wasn't like he'd planned on being with the Naval SEAL Commander- or any man or other women. He had planned on his marriage to the mother of his children lasting forever, he had planned on living in New Jersey forever.

But, life is what happened when you were making other plans.

So, here he was in couples therapy, using words like 'sex life with Steve' and 'what' and holding hands and chanting with a group of strangers. It would be hilarious if wasn't so ridiculous!

So was the fact that he didn't hate it quite like he thought would or expected to after his divorce from Rachel and he wasn't afraid. Not with Steve. Not ever.

"Ready, sweetheart?" Steve smirked at him as they were about to start saying the words together.

"Right here with you, honey." Danny answered him with a twisted grin.

"I come from the loving space of my heart...."

 

Still later...

 

"This stupid idea of yours is never going to work!" Danny gritted his teeth angrily as he held onto Steve's side alternating between one and both of his arms.

"Danny, just do exactly what I say and it's going to be fine. " Steve spoke as they clumsily moved around the room together with everyone else.

"Just when I give the word, just take a dive and pretend you hurt your ankle!" he instructed hurriedly. "You can do that. I'll check on the phones when I say I'm going to get ice, Lorraine will let us out of us class and we'll check back with her and say I took you to the doctor and you were told you had to stay in bed! Then, boom! We're off for the rest of the weekend, buddy!"

"What about the paperwork? She won't sign them for the governor." Steve reminded him tightly as they rounded a corner in their three-legged journey around the room. 

"I'll make her do it. Come on, I can handle her. I just need to work her a little bit!" Steve said confidentially. "Great plan or what? I thought of everything! Just work with me here!"

"Epic fail!" Danny muttered.

"Would you quit being so negative?!" Steve demanded in exasperation. This whole exercise was annoying as hell and so was Danny right now!

"Would you quit trying to get out of something that you got us both into in the first place?! The only reason you want your phone back is because the thought of being without it for even a little while takes you out of your control zone. Face it, you're a whacked out control freak who doesn't like to be out of his zone. Just like with my car, where we eat, etc., etc."

Steve decided to ignore him and continue on with his plan to get them out of here. 

"On my count to three, fall over!" he ordered in a whisper as the continued encouragement of Lorraine to everyone could be heard among the groans and grunts of the other couples. She talked about how trust was the key to accomplishing getting around the room with one leg of each other person tied to their partner's own. She went on about how fragile and breakable trust is but how strong it was when it existed.

All Danny wanted to do was take a break from all this running around. This wasn't exactly how he pictured himself being plastered to Steve's side this weekend.

"We could use some of these tips." he reminded his friend and lover. "Just not into this leg race thing."

"We already trust each other." Steve insisted. "We always have."

"Why?" Danny asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Why?" 

"I don't know. I trust you every day in every way, Danny. You've never once let me down, babe. And you trust me. It's how we roll, you know. We just work that way, I guess."

"I guess." Danny actually smiled. From the moment he'd met Steve McGarrett, despite his reckless ways, impatient actions, lone wolf mentality, there had been something there that always made Danny put his faith in him. No matter how crazy, how wild, how just this side of insane, at the end of the day it was Steve.

And Steve was enough. Steve was enough for Danny. 

Despite his physical struggles at the moment, he looked up to sneak a glance up at him.

"What?!" Steve suddenly asked him in a harsh whisper.

"Nothing!" he answered back in the same tone. "Okay."

"Okay, what?" 

"When?" the blond detective asked him.

"What do mean by that?"

"I mean. I'm in on this crazy plan of yours alright?! Just hurry up and count, okay?!"

"OKAY!" the Smooth Dog smirk was back again. 

Danny was going to regret this one, he knew it. He could hear the governor now in his office when the two of them got back there in Oahu and checked in with him in a couple days.

"One. Two...Three!" Steve counted in Danny's ear and instantly the man from New Jersey made his move...or made a move that he didn't plan on making and fell forward!

"Ow! Ow!!!" Danny wailed loudly causing the entire room to stop and run into each other and struggle to stay upright as they headed towards him and circled around him.

"Don't touch him! Don't anyone move him!" Lorraine ordered hurrying forward.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Steve asked painting his most concerned face on as he bent down to him and ripped the tape attaching their legs to each other's limbs.

"NO!" Williams shrieked. He grabbed at his ankle. He hadn't fallen the right way and there was already a purply shade spreading across his foot as he held onto it.

"Ice! I'll get some ice!" Steve said. He straightened up and sprinted out of the room as if his hair was on fire!

Once back in the lobby, he rushed over to the phone basket and picked through the various ones until he saw his and snatched it up. Turning it on with a look over his shoulder to make sure that no one had followed him out of the room, he scrolled until he saw the number he was searching for and started typing a text to the spa giving them a new time and explaining how he and Danny were stuck somewhere but were definitely going to be there.

Replacing the phone back in the basket, he reached over and grabbed the pitcher on the table containing ice water. Reaching over for one of the hotel towels stacked on a shelf nearby, he ran back to the therapy room clutching his items to his chest. 

The moment he was back in the room, the handsome Task Force Commander went over to Danny who was still sitting on the floor, but had his leg lifted and propped up on a chair that someone had placed before him. The others were still crowded around him murmuring and staring and saying soothing words as he sat back on his hands.

"Here, buddy! I got this, baby!" Steve said reassuringly and squatted down and placed the water pitcher on the floor next to him. Reaching in and scooping out a bunch of ice, he quickly wrapped the towel around them.

Glancing at Danny's face, he gave him a wink that told Danny that he'd been successful with his other mission. Happily, he moved to place the towel over Danny's foot when he got his first good look at it.

"Wow! Danny, that looks kind of funky there!" he said eyeing the purple coloring of his skin.

"Ya think?!" Danny snapped at him as he felt the pain and closed his eyes to the feel of the towel being placed on him and Steve's fingers caressing gently around the area.

Lorraine sighed as others continued to ooh and ahh. 

"Pay very close attention, everyone. Look at how Steve is taking such tender care of Danny in his time of need. Look at the trust that Danny has for his partner right now. It's written all over his face. This is what you want in a true partner!" she gushed with emotion and happy tears swimming in her eyes. 

"I knew our class was just thing that you two needed! We're on our way! I am happy to have helped bring this out in you both!" she clasped her hands together as Steve continued his ministrations.

Danny nodded, his face contorted and scrunched up. Steve looked at him strangely.

"Danny?" he called out to him in confusion.

"I think I hurt my ankle, Steve." Danny winced. 

"You WHAT?!" he exclaimed.

Much later...

"Now, Steven?" Danny quipped as he leaned on the him and hobbled through the door of their hotel room and the two of them stumbled over onto the large bed.

Plopping down firmly on top of it, he sighed and ran his hands down his face and took a deep breath.

Looking up at his partner, he waited for his response.

"Sure, why not? Sure, Danny. Now." he nodded his head and tossed his cell phone and key card onto the night table. He stretched out his back and stared sadly past Danny and out of the double balcony windows.

"I told you so." Danny said calmly. 

"I know, buddy." 

"I warned you."

"You did. Yes, you did."

"Now, I'm stuck in here." Danny pointed to his foot.

"It's not broken or even sprained. It's just a little bruised. You heard the doctor. " Steve tried to put in helpfully. 

"And I have to stay off of it. I'm lucky I didn't break my neck!" he scowled at him. "There goes the rest of today's plans."

"Sorry..." Steve mumbled. "Maybe we can still..." he started to say as he took a few steps closer in the direction of the bed.

"No. Nope! I'm not going anywhere else on one of your ridiculous ideas and get broken into a hundred different pieces! I'm staying right here!" Danny gestured rapidly with his hands and stated.

" We can still sit by the pool, babe." Steve suggested cheerfully. 

"I need a shower." Danny grumbled and looked towards the bathroom.

" Now, you're talking! I'll help you out, Danny." Steve's face brightened and was already reaching for the buttons of his own shirt.

"Slow down there, Smooth Dog. I meant an actual shower. Then, maybe I'll take a nap."

Steve pouted. "What about our plans for the evening, Danny?"

"I'd hardly be any fun like this. You go on and enjoy the weekend, babe." Danny told him tiredly.

"Well, no, Danny, I wanted to do it with you." Steve said quietly.

"Please! You wanted to go to the pool, McGarrett!" Danny snapped. "Let's not forget the golf and the spa that you had to cancel today."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked, offended now. 

"You know what I mean! All the plans you made to live it up this weekend, remember?" Danny tried to get up from the bed, but gave up a second later and sat back down.

"I thought we could have a good time and enjoy some fun this weekend." Steve insisted, his face a blend of hurt and frustration "We haven't had any time to just kick back, you know, Danny, with our work load lately. "

"We had that barbecue at the house the other Saturday during our Grace and Charlie time. Chin, Abby, Kono, Lou, Max, Jerry. Everyone was there." 

That was with everyone, Steve silently wanted to tell him. I love our ohana, I do. But,....

" Danny, that was weeks ago! Poor Gracie got sick and we were up all night with her." he stated out loud, pacing around the area in front of the bed and gesturing with his arm. He vividly recalled he and Danny taking turns holding their little girl and cleaning her up when she got sick all over herself as she spent the hours of the night with a temperature.

It had been Steve who carried her into Emergency Room,a frantic Danny at his side. They had called Kono to come over to the house to overnight with Charlie, Chin and Abby taking over for her in the morning. With Rachel and Stan out of the country, they had their hands full with a sick daughter and a little son who was still recovering from needing a bone marrow transplant to save his life. 

She had had to be admitted for treatment Steve and Danny had refused to leave her side except to take turns for breaks and to run home to clean up and change clothes and check on Charlie. Their home had been used like a pit stop and at any given time, neither man knew who they'd find there when they showed up. At one point, a weary and anxious Danny had come in to find Lou's wife, Renee having just taken over for Kamekona and Flippa.

It was chaos and hurried and had left them with no time for each other. A combination of little kisses, touches of fingers, and rushed I love yous were all that they had time for, but just having other's presence as they tag teamed for Grace had gotten them through it.

And when it was over and they'd taken her home in relief, they'd collapsed together in their bed and slept off their stupor before getting back and going to catch the bad guys of Hawaii again.

Danny sighed, fatigue taking him over now. "Look, Steve, you planned this whole weekend. You wanted to go out and have a good time. I'm not going to be any fun and I'm just tired here. Why don't you go and check out that pool, go and have dinner, enjoy the bar a bit. I mean our afternoon is pretty much done. You should go and still see if you can salvage your weekend."

Steve looked down at the floor in disappointment and turned back towards the balcony doors. It was supposed to be their weekend, wasn't it? Hadn't Danny wanted to go with him? He admitted that perhaps he'd used the couples therapy excuse get them the weekend, but it really wasn't all sneaky on his part just for him.

"Maybe, if you still want to get a small dinner or something later," Steve said, clearly not very motivated now to do it. Danny's attitude had clearly killed any mood he was hoping still might be there after their horrible afternoon at the hospital.

"Yeah, maybe. You really don't sound like you want to do it." the blond haired Task Force member noted.

"Yeah, well, gee, Danny. You sound like it would be a fun date." Steve quipped, sarcasm dripping from his words as he then sucked in his bottom lip.

"Give me a break! I'm tired, my foot is in pain- a problem you caused with your obsession to party your way through the resort here! I think I was just along for the ride." he ran a hand through his hair. 

"Okay, it wasn't like that." the SEAL Commander's voice rose sharply. 

"Oh, what was it like then 'cause I didn't damage my memory when I fell. I have a pretty good recollection of how things were going from the start of this trip."

"Did you get to the part where you whined constantly and complained about everything?" Steve held up his hands in surrender.

"You know what, you're right, Danny. I think maybe we should just take some time and be by ourselves for awhile. You clean up and get into bed, take your nap. I'll...go out for a bit." he finished quietly..

"Fine." Danny mumbled. "Have a good time."

"Oh, I will."

"Send me pictures." He quipped.

"I can do that, too." he nodded as he headed to his bags to get a change of clothes and take a shower."

Late, late at night

Steve stumbled through the hotel room door and barely managed to find his way around how to close it.

Trying to focus his eyes in the dark, he leaned way down to clumsily grab the door knob and push against it to finally close the door. 

It made a thud type of noise and Steve looked over his shoulder to make sure Danny didn't hear him.

It was a large room and the bed was several feet away past the sitting area, but Steve could still make out his partner's form under the sheets and comforter of the bed. 

"O...kay, still as..asleep..." Steve mumbled. "Still have my SEAL moves." he slurred as he made a move towards the bathroom to try and wash his face and get ready for bed.

"Damn, my stomach!" he winced as he tried to tip toe over before he lost the contents of his last meal even though he couldn't exactly remember what that had been.

He had barely made it past the threshold and onto the tiled floor when his leg kicked over a wastebasket sitting next to a low shelf holding towels and everything fell over in a crash!

"Whoopsie!" he snickered and scolded himself. "I knocked it over..."

"You sure did." Danny grumbled as he wiggled around in the bed. He stared through his own half closed lids at his boyfriend.

"Hey, Danno!" he waved cheerfully. Grinning like a fool, he continued, "I tripped and knocked over all this stuff. Sorry, buddy!" 

"That's...that's...okay, buddy." 

"I had soo much fun tonight, babe!" he nodded his head as he headed back out of the bathroom.

"I can see that. Bet that bar was awfully happy to see you!" Danny lifted his finger out from the blanket and wagged it at Steve's face.

"Missed some of the lipstick you tried to wipe off there." he pointed out. He felt the pang in his heart as he looked at McGarrett.

Steve sloppily wiped at his face. It only smeared even more. "Uh....I met a lot of people at that bar...." he nodded and giggled. "Hey, Danny, this girl, she really wanted me, man. She was all over me, you know."

" Of course she was and I'm sure you wanted her...." Danny tried to grin. "We get into one fight and you go out and pick up the firs...."

"Shhhhh!" Steve put his index finger to his lips and snickered." Shhhh, Danno! Too loud, you'll wake everyone in the hotel! That's not nice, man..."

"I WILL?!" Danny groaned. "How did you get back anyway? Your eyes aren't even focusing!" he glared at him angrily and saw his bedraggled condition.

"You're drunk."

"Who? Me? Yup." he nodded. "A lot." his words were slurred and he was having trouble standing up straight.

"Why don't you sit down before you fall over?" suggested Danny. "Better yet, sleep it off." He bit into his bottom lip to keep from yelling out loud right now. Jealousy was eating away at him bit by bit.

It was his own fault, he knew. He'd driven Steve out of here tonight by picking a fight like he wanted to do. Steve had been annoying him for hours now and it hurt that he only was thinking of himself.

"Did you get the pictures I sent you?" he asked, his eyes squinting as he was apparently trying to keep himself upright.

"Yeah. Yeah. Loved them. Loved seeing all of the of those women who were surrounding you drinking up a storm and...who the hell knows what else." he finished, more to himself.

 

"I told them, Danno." he nodded. "I told them my he..heart is my Danno's....only." his grin got even wider as he added, "Wasn't...wasn't that cool?!"

Danny didn't respond. 

"You asked me to send you pictures! You did!" he insisted. "Some of them were hard to...to take, but take, but...I kept my promise!" 

"I did ask. Yes, yes, I did." Danny had been horrified when some of those had come in and after the first three, he stopped looking altogether.

"My head hurts!" Steve rubbed at his hair. "You should have...have come with us. We could have had so much fun!"

" Just an opinion, but I don't think you need any more fun tonight. Yeah, it looks like getting trashed out of your head with a bunch of strangers and coming back to a hangover sounds fun." 

"I told them all about you. They wanted to meet you...I said you were...what were you again?" he wondered. He burst out laughing. "You know what? I can't remember!"

"God, you're tanked, Steve!" Danny groaned in disgust. "Great! What the hell happened?!"

Instead of answering him, Steve began to try to peel away his shirt and only managed to get a few buttons undone. 

"Why didn't you call me? I could have come and gotten you." Danny asked in frustration.

"I thought yo..you were mad at me." he answered with a pout.

Danny sighed. "I would have come to get you." He told himself it was just downstairs. It's not like Steve actually had to leave the hotel, but still, Danny could have gotten him.

"Where are my pajamas? "he looked around in confusion.

"You don't wear any." was the deadpan answer. 

"How do you know?" 

"Trust me. I know." The way his body was reacting right reminded him that it knew, too. His skin and limbs had defected to Steve a hell of a long time ago!

"Oh, that's right! Because we sleep together, Danno! That's what I told everyone!" 

"Great. I can't imagine what brought your drinking conversations to that fact and I don't think I want to know." 

He didn't want to think about how many propositions and phone numbers were thrown at this man tonight.

"I didn't know what to tell them." he admitted, his clothes already forgotten.

"Why didn't you tell them the truth and say you ruined my weekend...and my foot!"

"You know what, Danny? You're a whiner!" Steve decided as he gave up on his shirt, gave the lipstick stains another unsuccessful wipe and headed to his side of the bed.

"Oh, I'm a whiner?" 

"Yes, yes, you are. I tried....do something nice here. Have a little....fun and all I got for my troubles is...is your whining! You're always such a pain in the ass, you know! "

"Oh, you have got to be kidding! You go out and get loaded and pick up any and every customer in that bar complete with visual aid of it and make sure I'm spending this weekend on the injured list and I'm whining? I AM?!"

"God, my head!" Steve muttered in agony! "Danno, my head hurts! Pl..please be quiet for a minute, will you, man?" he said as he collapsed hard on their bed. 

"You know what...what? You never wanted to ..go with me...this week..weekend. You never wanted to go with me. This whole..ankle thing was a just an ex..cuse. You didn't even want to be there with all of..of those people in group with me. Yup. That's right." he tried to stare at him, but he couldn't get his eyes to work right now. " So, that's what I finally figured out tonight...everyone there...they wanted me....liked me..." he said softly.

Danny strained to hear what Steve was telling. 

" Oh, you know what that's so stupid, Steven....if I didn't want to be here with you, would I be here? Would I have subjected myself to THIS?!" he gestured wildly towards his foot.

He waited for a response and only silence greeted his ears.

"Steve? Steve?" Danny carefully turned over onto his side as he looked his partner over.

His breathing had gotten heavier and his eyes were closed. His dark, thick, pretty lashes formed crescent moons on his cheeks. He was well on his way to a five o'clock shadow already. 

Even in his messed up clothes and hair, he was beautiful, Danny thought. Danny had been looking at that since the day they'd met. 

"Fell asleep, didn't you?" Danny turned back onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Had your party and now you're asleep. This is great, Steve....so all about yourself."

The next morning...

Steve and Danny's hotel room

"How's your foot?" Steve asked coming out of the bathroom and cringing at the morning light that streamed through the balcony windows. He noticed Danny had wasted no time in opening up the drapes today.

Jerk, thought Steve, his head threatening to explode! If he felt better, he would just go over and close them himself, but he didn't think think he could take that much light up close right now. 

"Fine." Danny stated walking carefully across to his bag.

"Seven 'fine's in the last thirty minutes. Great conversations, Danny. We're getting a lot out this weekend's workshop." he grumbled as he fell back into bed.

"How would you even know, McGarrett? You haven't even anywhere near that workshop even when you were in there with everyone else."

"Thanks for opening up the drapes. My eyes really appreciate it. Really." Steve pulled the covers back over his head.

"You're welcome." 

"I think I'm going to throw up!" he could hear himself whining now.

"Again?" Danny wondered throwing him a pointed look. Despite himself and his burning need to stay angry at Steve, the other part of him- the part that loved to take care of him- was really screaming to be released and go over to him and if the big oaf hadn't pissed him so much, he would be right over there next to him!

"Why couldn't you stay this quiet when I'm sober and don't feel like someone's taking a jackhammer to my head?! Plenty of times since I've known you where I was begging you to stop talking."

"If I wanted to talk, I would have come down to the bar and talked it up with you and all of your dates last night." Detective Williams quipped. "IF there had actually been room for me on your dance card, buddy."

"It was just some drinks. And some fun. Remember fun, Danny?" McGarrett insisted from under the covers. 

" Yeah, you look like you're having fun right now! And I thought you'd appreciate my quiet given that hangover you're in the middle of right now."

"Why are you angry?"

"I'm not angry."

"I did what you wanted."

"Ah, there's a first. I'll schedule the press conference!" 

They glared at each other, their eyes slits in the morning light. 

"I'm here with sprained ankle that you gave me when you wouldn't do what I told you to do during the three legged race, you goof!" Danny stated. 

"I didn't want to do what you wanted!" Steve raised his head, sitting up now.

"Obviously!" He made sweeping gesture with one of his hands.

"We were doing fine my way!"

"FINE?! My ankle, remember?!"

"I remember." Steve growled lowly." How could I forget? You'll never let me, Danny!" 

"Forgive me for not letting you off the hook at the moment for maiming me in a stupid attempt to ditch a mandatory class while you try to pull the wool over Governor Denning's eyes and turn this weekend into some time of frat boy spring breakathon!"

 

"You know what, Danny, I'm done! I'm sick of this whole thing, okay?" Steve growled at him.

"Oooh, you're done? Well, how about this, so am I! How about that, huh?!" Danny's hand flailed wildly and he grabbed a pair of cotton pants out of his bag and hobbled over to the shower. He slammed the bathroom door shut hard while Steve reached for another pillow and threw it over his head and groaned into the pillow under his face!

 

Later that morning...

 

Group Therapy Room

 

Danny sat quietly staring as the other people in the group took turns making various comments and interjecting their own experiences with their pairings.

Next to him, Steve sat sullenly without voicing any thoughts, either. 

They hadn't spoken a word to each other since their fallout in their room earlier. Circling each other with pointed looks and stares, breakfast had been an exercise in torture training. Steve had eaten nothing and Danny kept his nose in his plate of eggs, toast, and sausage. Steve had disappeared eventually to go sit out under a huge umbrella by the pool and guzzle tomato juice like it was going out style while Danny had iced down his foot again.

His foot was feeling much better and didn't hurt so much pretty much proving that was in fact only bruised yesterday. But ,he reminded himself that it never would have happened if he hadn't taken part in that crazy stunt of Steve's to get out of their workshop class. So, really, it only went to show that Steve always only thought of himself first and just expected Danny to go along with whatever he wanted to do.

As if on que, Lorraine looked sharply towards them and noted curiously, "Danny, we haven't heard anything from you this morning. Do you not think our topic is a good one?"

Danny thought a moment and chewed the inside corner of his lip.

"Actually, no I don't." he sighed audibly and caused everyone to stare at him, including Steve.

"Why not?" Lorraine prompted him and she swiveled in her chair towards him as if she knew they were about to get some intense information from him and didn't want to miss any of it. 

She had taken note of the frosty air between the 5-0 twosome since they'd come in this morning and suspected that the remainder of their day hadn't gone well yesterday. It was common for her couples to continue therapy in private together after things had opened up in group. It was a good sign that they were trying things on their own after taking the lead from her sessions.

But, she had liked Steve and Danny from the moment she'd met them. There was something there, something almost...tender when they looked at each other despite the constant bickering. Even if they hadn't said they were a couple, she would have been able to tell. It was obvious from the vibes they gave off.

Something was definitely off today.

"I don't believe in therapy actually." Danny stated quietly. "I don't really see that it's needed."

"Why?" asked one of the men seated near him. "You all are here, willing to try it." 

"No, there's a difference." Danny disagreed. "We have to be here," he added, shooting a pointed, quick look in Steve's direction. "It wasn't our idea."

Not all of it, anyway, he added silently.

"Okay, but you're here. You're hearing all of us." the man went on to him. 

"Okay, look. This is all very nice, very helpful. I'm sure you think you're helping all of us out here, Lorraine." he gestured with his hands to her. "And I'm sure every one of you thinks you're going to come away from here having saved your relationship. Right?" 

He looked around the room and his voice turned sad as he continued, "My parents have been together for over forty years. They had their share of fights, arguments, sure. Who hasn't? But, they never had to come and do this, this, sitting in a circle and spilling their guts to a bunch of strangers and chanting and judging each other until you know what color m and m's everyone likes on what day of the week."

He took a deep breath. "Loving each other was enough. It was enough. All this talking, so called 'hashing things out' and 'fair fighting'"- he made air quotes with his two hands now. "You keep saying things, you keep trying to one up your partner and get in their face trying to show your mouth is bigger and poke at each little thing....eventually, you're going to get to that part where you can't take it back and the next thing you know, you're pulling out your futon to make a bed every Wednesday so your kid has a place to sleep when its your turn to have them for the night and the only communicating you can get done is through the lawyers. And it sucks, okay? Your forever and a lifetime just became every Wednesday and two weekends a month and six hours on Christmas." 

He finished quietly and stared at his hands in his lap. Okay, where the hell did all that just come from? Weren't they just supposed to talk about how to have sex or whatever and some place in their heart or something? 

"You love each other, you want to be together. That should be enough, right?" he added. 

He couldn't look at Steve right now. He couldn't know what the other man was thinking. He probably just embarrassed the both of them. Well, at least no one could say he didn't participate in this workshop now.

Steve chewed the corner of his lips thoughtfully. He couldn't help remembering the last time he'd seen Danny talking this way. It had been another lifetime when Steve didn't know anything else but being by himself. It was back when they'd first met, back when he shanghaied him for his task force and Danny had more or less told him to go fuck himself.

Danny had been bitter then, his broken marriage a huge source of his sadness and his cynicism. He had moved thousands of miles and away from everything he knew from the other side of the mainland to have a few precious days each month with his daughter. And Steve's father had just been murdered and the only thing on his mind was avenging him and then going back to the solitary life back with his men in the Teams again.

Falling in love had never been an entry on his list anywhere. 

And then, they had met and it was nothing short of inevitable that they would crash into each other's world and just plain stay there.

Steve had watched Danny and Grace and had felt his heart swell when they'd included him in their lives, sometimes in small ways, sometimes larger. He thought he could ignore it at first, thinking it would pass. He couldn't and it didn't. Now, his little boy, Charlie was a part of it. And along with Danny's love, he'd given him the bonus of a daughter and a son to love and to cherish and fill those silent spaces that had taken over for so long. 

Was it his bossy tone, his constant trying to make McGarrett act and follow rules like a good cop? Was it those beautiful, beautiful blue eyes that he smiled with when he smiled at him? Was it the way he'd wanted to know what it would feel like to have those hands touch him? Was it how thoughts of Danny and him had haunted more moments in his life than he knew what to do with after he had set eyes on him until he couldn't help but make a move? 

Steve didn't know. He couldn't point to any one thing that had made him fall so hard for the man who became his best friend after they'd started working together. He just knew that he had and now, it and their life together was...really everything to him....

 

Later...

Hotel Pool dining area

 

Hands in pockets, his face casual, McGarrett walked out the doors and stepped out onto the afternoon air to where Danny was sitting and enjoying a lunch of a very good looking hamburger and a tall drink. He had his bruised foot propped up on a cushion on the seat next to him.

Steve's breath caught in his throat as he watched him. His blond hair, that he was so obsessed with, was slicked back and combed to perfection as always. It had taken Danny a long time to give up wearing his beloved ties every day, but he'd gone even further than that now in his tee shirt and casual pants and sneakers.

He was pretty sure that his own eyes were flashing fire right now as he looked his friend in seeming total bliss as he relaxed away the afternoon.

Given his outburst in group earlier, he was pretty sure that was not the case.

"Hey, baby." Steve said as he grabbed at the chair in front of him and took a seat carefully watching him. He wasn't sure if he'd be welcome around him again yet, given how their day had gone so far, but the other man didn't seem to be against sharing space.

"Hi." Danny answered, reaching for his plate.

"How's it? The burger." he nodded with a twist of his lips towards the meal Danny was obviously enjoying.

"Good," Danny nodded and swallowed, reaching for his napkin. "It's probably the best tasting twenty dollar burger I've ever had in my life!"

Steve nodded, grinning as he looked around the area before settling his eyes back on his partner.

"I went looking for you in our room. I didn't think you were interested in coming out here." The Navy SEAL man said curiously. "You're not exactly a water fan."

"On the contrary, I love pools, nothing wrong with pools. It's the whole beach thing, remember?" 

"Yeah." Steve nodded again.

"Thought I'd give this a try since you couldn't shut up about it." Danny took a sip of his drink. "Thought you'd be setting up for another try at the bar dialing for dates again tonight."

"Yeah, well, I can't very well leave you sitting here all sullen and pouting. Look at all these people who paid a lot of money to be here. You're going to be the buzzkill on their holiday if I leave you alone right now."

"I think I can behave."

"You want me to leave?"

"No. No. You can stay." Danny watched him carefully. Was this going like an apology thing? Starting to sound like an apology thing, he decided. He could always tell. For as long as he'd known him, Steve would get that little boy look when this came around. 

Steve looked down at his hands on the table and looked back up when a waiter approached him.

"Could I have the same thing my partner's having and some water....lots of water and large glass for it, thank you very much." Steve requested, rubbing at his head and slipping his sunglasses on his face.

"Party's flashbacks still going on, huh?" Danny nodded towards him, wiping his hands on the napkin again.

"Yeah, don't remind me." McGarrett winced at the memory of waking up this morning hit him.

Danny licked his lips and Steve watched as if in a trance.

"Danny..." he began awkwardly.

"What?"

"Nothing....I just had a lot to drink.... too much....but, I wouldn't....I wouldn't do that to you...to us...you're mine now and I don't want to lose that, man." 

"Why'd you do it?" he asked, swallowing hard at hearing the words, clumsily, but obviously sincerely spoken.

He thought a second and tried to explain himself. "I was hurt. You were so against this weekend with me. I was...angry...embarrassed. I got drunk because it was easier to stay mad at you drunk."

That was putting it mildly. He'd gone over there to lick his wounds. He was mad and hurting and the more mad and hurt he had felt, the more he had had to drink. He had felt miserable as he had tried to show that he didn't give a shit and was just fine, thank you! Steve had always been great at getting people to believe he didn't care when he had wanted to....until Danny came along and called his bluff with the heaviest hits to his guts...and his heart.

Son of a bitch, he'd been brought to his knees by the feelings he had for this man who sat before him now. And it stung like hell, too!

"I was against getting in trouble with the governor over this weekend. I wasn't against the weekend with you, Steve. You just always run off with whatever goes on in that head of yours and I follow. It happens all the time."

He cleared his throat. "Being here digs up a bunch of stuff, you know, back when I was married. When things started to go south, Rachel wanted us to go to a councilor. She thought it might help. I don't know. I couldn't see myself sitting in there talking about personal things in front of a stranger. I already have to do that as a cop on job whenever we're involved in a traumatic experience. Rachel and I....I fought her on that. I didn't want to listen. She took it as a sign that I didn't want us, our family, anymore. And eventually, there was nothing left there." he shook his head. "I thought later that maybe if I had done it, maybe things would have ended up differently. Being here, doing this, reminds me of that, I guess. It wasn't you Steve. Not ever you, babe. "

"Danny, you moved far away from everything you knew just to be with your little girl. How could even think you didn't want your family?" McGarrett wanted to know. "Those children are the luckiest ever to have you!" he insisted with passion. 

Steve didn't know what to say. Danny was bleeding and he was staring at him like an idiot! But, how could he tell him that coming back home to Hawaii and finding Danny was like waking up again. Rachel had broken his heart because she couldn't handle being a cop's wife. No matter what else happened and how neutral he had always tried to be when it came to the two of them, she'd broken Danny's heart and seeing it had broken Steve's more than a little bit. And somewhere along the way in all of that mess that he'd been around to see the aftermath of, Steve began to know that he wanted Danny for himself. Shit, what a wake up call that had been! Trying to ignore and hide it had been those days when Steve sometimes did stupid things like getting drunk off his ass or call Catherine to try and help him bury it somewhere for all the good those kinds of things did for him. How could he say that he was glad Danny wasn't with Rachel anymore because he had him now without sounding like complete asshole?!

"I didn't plan this weekend so that I could go off and do whatever I wanted. Yeah, you're right. Maybe once, back in the day, I might have. I didn't have anything else, anyone else, you know. I didn't have you back then, Danny. I didn't have Gracie and Charlie and your mom's lasagna recipe." Steve said instead. 

Danny smirked at the mention of his favorite food.

"I do like my ma's lasagna." he agreed eagerly.

"I know you do." Steve smirked. "I just wanted to spend some time alone with you. We haven't had that much time lately. I guess...I guess I kind of pushed, but I just...miss you, you know."

Danny looked thoughtfully at him. And there was that heart flippy thing again when Steve watched him with his head lowered and eyes raised.

"Where's my burger? I'm starving, man!" Steve declared to cover up his awkwardness. 

"Maybe you should have taken the time to eat a little bit in between trying to guzzle down all the booze on the islands." Danny teased him. "Here." 

Danny took up his knife and fork and cut up a healthy slice of the hamburger. Spearing it with his fork, he lifted it towards Steve's mouth.

"Try this, man! You're going to love it! Swear to God, there's something special in here! There's hope for this place, you know." 

"Oh, is that an actual compliment for my state? Did I hear right? Is Danny Williams finally giving his seal of approval for Hawaii?" Steve sounded impressed. 

He always did whenever he thought Danny was getting anywhere near closer to liking this place in any way.

"Don't get too excited." the detective told him. "Besides, it gave me this great hamburger." He brought the fork to Steve's lips and shrugged. "It gave gave me you."

Steve paused, frozen on the spot at his words before he accepted Danny feeding him his bite of food.

It was a sensual thing , the way he offered a part of his meal to his lover, his movements slow, precise and his eyes following it all as he watched Steve's reaction to the burger.

"God, this is...." Steve sighed, briefly closing his eyes. 

"I know, right." Danny grinned. 

"More. More. I want more!" Steve told him as he cut out another bite for him. He chewed silently for a few moments. 

"Did you mean it?" he wanted to know a second later.

"What?"

"You know, about getting me?" Steve asked him almost shyly.

"What do you think? Did you think I was just biding my time with you until something I really wanted came along? Of course I mean it, you goof!"

"I guess the breakup of my marriage led me to this place and a completely dysfunctional, crazy relationship with you....and the best thing that ever happened to me." he said quietly. "So maybe, it was getting lucky, Steve."

McGarrett reached out to take one of Danny's hands to hold and his eyes shot up. "This is the softest skin I've ever felt!" he told him trailing his own fingers up Danny's arm. "What is that?"

"That hand lotion from our room! It's incredible, man! I tried it out before I came out here. It even has sunscreen. We gotta come back here sometime!" 

"It's incredible!" Steve agreed, rubbing Danny's wrist. 

Steve indicated the chair next to where Danny was sitting. "How's your foot, buddy?" 

"Oh, thanks for asking, buddy." Danny told him. "I was thinking you'd forgotten all about it. "It's doing better, actually." 

"Really?"

There was a look that passed Steve's face suddenly that Danny knew like the back of his hand. It was the one that made the blood course through his veins at a much faster pace and his mouth go dry at the thought!

Steve cleared this throat, his index finger still gently running the length of Danny's bare arm. It made the skin tingle where Steve touched him.

"I had wanted to take a walk with you, but...I think it's going to rain a bit this afternoon and with your leg..." His finger traced a vein on the inside of Danny's arm as he spoke. "I had another idea we could try since we're...free for the next few hours."

"What do you want to do....in...stead?" Danny cleared his throat in nervous energy. He noticed Steve's hand shaking a bit as he continued to stroke his skin. 

"Well, we could...rest up in our room a bit....that shower...." a slow smirk started to spread across his face. "It's been a long weekend. We could use the rest." 

Danny agreed. "Yeah, yeah. We haven't tried that yet. It's a...a shame about the rainstorm coming up..." 

"A shame." Steve agreed as he let go of his fellow detective and eased himself out of his chair as the waiter arrived with his food.

"Ah, could you please get a box for this, please?" Steve asked him, hungrily eyeing Danny. "We're just going to go back up our room." he said eagerly...

 

Ten minutes later...

Steve and Danny's hotel room  
The shower.

 

"God, I missed you..." Steve's face was covered in Danny's neck as he had him pinned against the tile wall of the large shower in their room.

Nipping at his skin where his ear met his neck, he listened to his partner groan as the warm jets of the shower poured down them both.

"I think this weekend has really...really helped us out a lot...with work, I mean!" Danny panted, his arms going around Steve's middle before sliding down to take hold of his ass.

"Yeah....feeling closer to....you al..ready!" he slid his mouth over to kiss Danny on the same spot on his other earlobe. He'd learned almost from the beginning that this was a particularly sensitive and favorite move for Danny. 

Their kiss was awesome, a bone melting, liquid fire that ignited them both as they grasped each other, touching and tasting and taking with each passing second. Never getting their fill, the more they took, the more they wanted and each time seemed to crush them in its strength. 

Steve made sure that the weight was off Danny's injured foot. With him up against the wall, Steve kept the other leg against him. The bruise had gone down considerably, but Steve didn't want to take any chances on hurting him again.

Their nerves snapped and their minds short circuited and they couldn't get enough of each other! 

"Fuck! Oh....Oh, God!" Steve yelped as Danny reached down between them and took hold of him.

"Yes?" Danny could hardly get the words out so it was all he asked, all he could do as he felt his sanity slip away second by second as Steve loved on every part of him get could get to in their dizzying need for each other!

"God, yes! Yes...please!" Steve found a way to answer as he rained a string of kisses from the blond's forehead to his neck, throat, chin and back around again. Water splashed everywhere and steam filled up the area within the area.

They didn't register any of it.

He nipped his earlobe again, murmuring his name and words of love and sex and as Danny felt his knees weaken and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. Steve was already caressing him the way he liked while continuing to kiss him completely and with total abandon!

"God, I love...love you!" Danny cried out wildly. "So much! So...so much!"

"Love you, baby..." he answered him moments before the two of them came crashing against the wall together. It was fast and blinding and and sucked the air out of both of them! Steve pushed against him as he came down from the high, barely able to breathe and think coherently.

"God, Danny, that...that was..." he couldn't say anymore. He couldn't remember the words. All he could do was keep holding onto the man who was coursing through his blood still as he clung to him, the water continuing to pour down their bodies and into the drain on the shower floor.

"Yeah, yeah,...it was...." Danny smiled against his partner's chest as he felt his heartbeat thunder against him...

 

Thoroughly sated, still breathing hard, the sheets tangled up around them, Steve stayed collapsed against Danny as he felt the detective's arms around him. 

"We're going to need another shower, I..I think." Danny moaned as Steve pulled away from him. 'I know you're going to hate that." he said sarcastically.

"So, we'll get it." the commander couldn't help the goofy grin spreading across his face. He turned over and tried to sit up. Stuffing a pillow behind him, he rearranged some of the bed sheet around him and it settled carelessly around his hips. Hiking up a knee and folding his other leg under him, he tried to restore his heart rate back down. Being with Danny always left him boneless and melted. It took a few moments to not feel so lightheaded. 

Danny stared openly at the rise and fall of Steve's bare chest as McGarrett reached over and grabbed his phone off the night table to look through it. He'd turned it off when he and Danny had returned to their room and tossed his phone aside in his hurry to get him into the shower, stripping their clothes and clinging to each other as they went along. He saw the trail of their discarded things on the floor leading to the bathroom still there in their crumpled heaps.

When he turned his phone on, his screensaver greeted him back and he grinned lazily to himself. Staring back at him were Grace and Charlie. Grace was leaning with her arms around Danny and Charlie was sitting on Steve's lap. Steve and Danny were leaning against each other, their heads in each other's direction. All of them were sitting on the lanai of Steve's home on a sunny afternoon with big grins on their faces.

He never, never expected this to ever be any screensaver of his and he looked up to find his friend watching him.

"Any messages?" 

Steve shook his head.

"Then, why are you smiling?" 

As thunder clapped in the distance outside of their room, Steve looked curiously back at him. "Spending a passionate and intense afternoon with you can't have me smiling?"

"Passionate? Intense? Thank you!" Danny gave him back a crooked grin. "Rainstorms are going to get me hot now!" he rolled his head back and forth across the pillow under him and and took a very deep breath and stretched.

Steve leaned down and gave him a lingering kiss. They dueled for dominance and groaned in pleasure as urgency built up between them and Danny's hand went around the back of Steve's neck, holding him there while he thoroughly had his way with him.

When Steve finally pulled back to come up for air, Danny wanted to know, "What were you looking at and grinning?" 

The task force leader flipped his phone around and showed him his screensaver.

Danny flashed a wide smile. "I remember when we took that one." It was a lazy day, one of Danny and Steve's weekends with Grace and Charlie, and they'd spent it grilling and playing in the water. 

The young teenager who'd taken that photo was someone who was very much in their lives. Steve had caught him stealing his father's car and trying to sell off the parts for money. He had turned out to be more of a desperate kid who was looking for something to eat than a criminal. Steve had taken the young boy, Nahale, under his wing and opted to mentor him instead turning him into juvenile authorities. Things with Nahale was working out very well. He was in school, had a part time job working for Kamikona's shrimp truck, played sports now instead of boosting cars, and spent a good amount of time with Danny, Steve, and the kids. The once shy, scared, unsure young man was blooming under Steve's nurturing care.

Danny knew that somewhere inside him, Steve had more than once let his mind wander to the thoughts of having Nahale join their little family. They'd talk about it some already. Danny had warmed to the idea himself and had dropped very clear thoughts to him about it. Nahale was one of the most thoughtful kids he'd ever met. Grace and Charlie loved hanging out with him, too. It would happen soon, he knew.

"Do you remember the first time we...." Danny started to ask him as he put his phone back on the night table.

"I think it was up in my bed that weekend we... It started at the front door when you were leaving and I changed your mind." Steve started to give him that goofy grin.

"I was talking about getting together and building our family, you animal, but that's a good memory, too!" Danny moved his hand to Steve's thigh and started massaging it. 

"Yeah, that weekend we got lost together...." Steve remembered vividly as flashes of making love to Danny for the first time flooded into his memory. He remembered it all, really. Their first kiss had come after they'd danced together for the first time. It had started out silly, just moving together in tune with some slow song that he had playing in the kitchen as they made dinner together. Awkward and fumbling...and perfect. He remembered how his hands had shaken so badly when he'd reached out to take Danny's as he suggested a walk on the beach.

He reached down and took hold of it now and lifted it up to his mouth and brushed his lips across his palm. Sliding their clasped hands towards his chest, he stopped and placed it over his thundering heart.

"Every time, Danny. I swear it's like that every time for me!" 

Danny felt Steve's heart beat wildly inside him and made his own blood race through him at a wicked pace!

"For you...." Steve gave him that wild grin again and started lowering his own body back over him....

 

Later that night...

 

The rain had stopped awhile ago and the thunder had grown silent. Tomorrow promised to be a bright day. 

Steve snuggled Danny closer to him as he burrowed himself further into the sheets of their bed. He'd tell him about Chin's call in the morning and how Kamekona was doing. Danny would have plenty of opinions about both, he knew.

He was thinking about asking him if he wanted to ditch the last group session and go for a walk with him instead after breakfast before they had to pack and get to the airport. Danny would have plenty to say about that, too.

He'd do all that, sure. Right now, he just wanted to keep holding him and sleep knowing Danny was in his arms and in his life having filled up all the spaces in Steve that had stayed bare for so long and now threatened to overflow.

"I love you, Danny." he whispered as he closed his eyes and drifted off....

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading it! Comments and Kudos are always welcome and much appreciated! I also want to applaud you all for all of your great stories!!


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